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Research study

This weekend I helped my roommate Neal test the first subject of his final masters project. It’s a cycling study and he is still looking for more participants. Here is his study information in case any of you could help him out.

Hello,

My name is Neal Austin, I am a mechanic and sales dude at SpeedTheory and I’m currently working on my Master’s of Science at University of Calgary. I’m conducting a research project in the area of muscle performance during cycling and I’m currently looking for subjects to participate starting in about 2 weeks.

The goals of the project are to investigate muscle contractile properties during cycling and relate these properties back to contractile relationships. We hope to gain information on both muscle contraction velocity and muscle length which will respectively relate back to optimal cadence and optimal crank torque during cycling for extended periods of time.

The subject population which we are interested in testing is healthy male road cyclists over the age of 18 years that currently train 6 or more hours on their bicycle per week. Prior to testing the subjects will be asked to measure their seat position relative to their bottom bracket (both height and seat set back), and to bring in their shoes and pedals. Also the subject should be aware of the average cadence they cycle at for a hard 1hr ride or race. If the subject knows the power output in which they cycle at for a 1hr hard ride or race this is even better. The testing will start with a series of maximal contractions at various knee angles to establish which muscle length the rider produces the maximal force at. Then the subject will be required to perform maximal knee extensions throughout a range of motion at various speeds to determine optimal muscle contraction velocity. The subjects will then be asked to cycle at various pedaling conditions where we will measure muscle length and muscle contraction velocity. These measurements will then be related to the optimal lengths and velocities previously measured to see if the subject is cycling at optimal conditions.

Again information relating to optimal cadence for extended hard rides (1hr)will hopefully gathered from the testing information. If you are interested in potentially volunteering for this study please contact me, Neal Austin, via email (naustin@kin.ucalgary.ca), or phone (403-465-4670).